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The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2002 Ford Ranger:

Ranger

106,000 miles

At the annual safety inspection it was determined that the rear frame has been perforated by rust. I was informed that this is a common problem due to how the frame is shaped where the spare tire attaches. An otherwise mechanically sound and solid vehicle is no longer driveable.

Ranger

62,000 miles

Truck exhibited a ┐clunk┐ noise from left rear when traversing a bump in the road. I took it to the dealership where I bought it new and have had all maintenance and repair work done. Service manager said no repair was possible┐frame rust was so bad a new leaf spring, etc. Could not be attached and it was unsafe to drive. See attached invoice. I had the truck towed to my home and it has not been driven since. (date of occurrence is approximate. It became worse as time went on and occurs at any speed.)

Ranger

90,000 miles

Rear spring hangers rotted and failed and both sides of frame rusted bad..spare tire holder rusted rotted and broke letting spare tire and rear bumper to drop down. I caught it before it made it to the road.we were on the road when the right hand side came down.left side happened a year before the right side[estimate].

Ranger

129,100 miles

Frame has extensive rot resulting in an unstable handling feel to the truck while driving. Also the leaf spring mounts are rusted through and about to fall apart, I feel the truck is no longer safe to drive.

Ranger

160,000 miles

Excessive rust underneath. Leaf spring hangers failed at 11 years/120K miles. Spare tire winch separated from truck at 14 years/155K miles.. an exhaust mount has rusted away leaving the exhaust system marginally supported - uncertain of when this happened. Logging this complaint due to the gas tank strap failure. One gas tank strap separated from underneath the truck bed approximately one month ago - age 14.5 years, ~160K miles. With the spare tire, I noticed it hanging low (3 of 4 fasteners had pulled away from their mounts), and with little effort, was able to have it fall off. Had the remaining fastener failed on the highway, obviously bad things could have happened. With the gas tank strap, luckily it separated from underneath the bed rather than from the frame, and I could hear it rubbing against the drive shaft. The other strap was able to carry the entire weight until I was able to secure the gas tank.

Ranger

80,000 miles

Door ajar light stays on after car is started and interior lights stay on for about ten minutes after vehicle is stopped before going out. Does not happen if very cold 20 degrees F, or less. Also drivers door will partially open occasionally when driving to the safety catch position. Door opening is normally at lower speeds, less than 30 mph and mostly when going around turns. Started almost a year ago.

Ranger

123,546 miles

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while stationary during an oil change, the vehicle's frame bedding was discovered to be severely corroded. Underneath the vehicle, there was a noise coming from underneath the vehicle and the frame encountered the bedding causing the failure to progress. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 123,546.

Ranger

174,000 miles

The truck frame has multiple spots of severe rust that caused it to snap in 2 making the truck unsafe to drive. One of the areas is next to the gas tank (where it snapped) and the rust does not affect any other spot around the frame in this area. I was making a wide right hand turn on a highway on ramp and it snapped.

Ranger

56,000 miles

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that the vehicle had not passed inspection due to rusting on the axle and the subframe on the front driver side. The contact stated that the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the front frame was unable to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 56,000. The VIN was not available.

Ranger

94,000 miles

I bought this truck from a dealership in Jan 2010. Truck was in good shape, had frame check out before I bought it and looked very good. Truck had only 48000 miles on it. In Jan of 2015 the truck bed sat a little crooked check frame and seen a crack on frame 3' long by front shackle. At that time truck only has 94000 miles on it. Took bed off and found more areas that would need adressing soon. I tried to keep truck under side clean during the winter, I guess the stuff the state uses on the road was to much for the truck.

Ranger

104,604 miles

Rear leaf shackles replaced, rotted from frame, last Aug 2014 to pass inspection. This winter 2014-2015, the spare tire carrier frame rotted and fell from the vehicle, including the spare tire. Now, upon inspection of the bed appearing crooked, the drivers side frame in front of the drivers side front leaf spring mount is totally rotted. This has caused the gas tank mounts to the frame to break. It has also caused the bed to twist and the entire rear end of this vehicle is now only supported by the passenger side frame.

Ranger

20,000 miles

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while approaching a stop light, he erroneously depressed both the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal and proceeded through the light. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000. The VIN was not available.

Ranger

130,000 miles

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Ranger. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the spare tire holder fractured, causing the tire to detach from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they stated that the spare tire bed was corroded. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 130,000.

Ranger 6-cyl

67,000 miles

I noticed my vehicle had a slight sag to it so I took it in to an independent shop, the mechanic gave me horrifying news, stating my vehicle was unsafe to drive due to the frame being excessive rotted out, he showed my where the spare tire was being held on the rust had eaten away the support and said I was luck not to lose the spare on the highway. Also the gas tank supports were completely gone. The truck has 67K miles. The outside looks beautiful and clean you would never tell by looking at the truck that the undercarriage was rotted. I find it absurd that a truck well taken care has turned to this... the mechanic said the only way to fix this is to replace the frame, which is very expensive, so I'm left with a unsafe pile of rusted metal.

Ranger 6-cyl

100,000 miles

Spare tire mount fell off truck going 50 mph. Could have killed some one. Mounts were totally rusted off. Since then have had to weld frame several times to pass inspection. Frame is not going to pass again this year on a truck with great engine, tires, brakes, etc. Land fill here we come. Something was very wrong with the steel used in this frame. There is nothing left.

Ranger

31,000 miles

Brought truck into service center for noise in front. Raised truck to inspect---- complete undercariage rusted beyond belief, front to rear bolts, nuts, brackets, frame, shocks, etc. Main concern is frame, brake lines --- had to have rear leaf spring support and bracket replaced because it was ready to break. Had shocks replaced because they looked like they could bust at any time. This is a truck with less than 32,000 miles --- body still looks great but underneath is questionable is there a recall or something I can fall back on "??"